Colorado Democrats, are you worried about the high unfavorable ratings Hillary Clinton has in our state? Perhaps you need a good dose of Tryphorgetin from DNC Pharmaceuticals, brought to us by our new friends over at Rocky Mountain Politics. … [Read more...]
Gazette: Ritter Throws Tasty Raw “Sirloin Steak” to Labor Leaders
The Colorado Springs Gazette's editors decry Gov. "Back Room" Bill "Bag Man" Ritter for his executive order unionizing state employees: For the second time in less than a year, Gov. Bill Ritter has gotten into political trouble by throwing a bone to his labor union friends. In this case, however, he didn’t just throw them a bone, but a sirloin steak, by granting state employees de facto collective bargaining powers in an executive order issued late in the afternoon of Nov. 2. Contributing to the backlash this time around is the secretive, unilateral way the political payoff was orchestrated, and the slick, Clintonesque way the governor has tried to spin the issue by playing semantics. Ouch - it's worth reading the whole thing. … [Read more...]
FTS: Ritter Mulls Collective Bargaining Executive Order
Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter looks to be more serious about his payback to Big Labor leaders than even earlier anticipated. As Face the State reports today - having uncovered key communications - the Governor is seriously considering an executive order to institute collective bargaining for state employees. The problem with the governor's proposed policy change is identified well by Republican state senators Kester and McElhany in a recent commentary for the Pueblo Chieftain: Why the secrecy? Maybe it is because they know collective bargaining is a train wreck waiting to happen. Just look at the cost incurred by other states that have gone down that path. Washington's state government, which began its experiment with collective bargaining … [Read more...]
More on Ritter the Bag Man
Over at Politics West, Joshua has some astute insights into where Gov. Ritter's executive order unionizing state employees will lead, including: The right to strike as an individual is virtually meaningless. The right to strike as a part of a union, in order to gain benefits under collective bargaining, is significantly more powerful. If such a right exists by Colorado Supreme Court decisions, then it cannot be overturned or even limited by note in an executive order. Such a note amounts to little more than a plea for AFSCME not to strike, at least not now, when it would be embarassing. Especially if you can't confine it to the Friday evening news cycle. The union would be able to negotiate with the state government as a whole, or with … [Read more...]
Polis Trip to Iraq Could Spice Up CD-2 Primary
Liberal Democrat and Colorado Congressional candidate Jared Polis, with whom I frequently disagree on this blog, is to be commended for deciding to take a look at what's going on in Iraq himself:Polis, former chairman of the state education board, is leaving today to spend a week with relief agencies, Iraqi civilians and two deployed Colorado lawmakers. Polis said the point of the trip is to "get a broader picture of what's going on" in Iraq, not "hold a large turkey for photo ops." Contrast Polis' apparent open-minded with the self-blinding attitude of his chief Democrat primary opponent, who typify the Left's talking points that dominate with their party in Congress:Fitz-Gerald's campaign said the trip isn't necessary. "The facts … [Read more...]
Best Read of the Day: A Question for “Back Room Ritter”
My friend and colleague Jessica Peck Corry hits the nail on the head today with some important questions for our governor, listing the growing number of cases where Colorado voters are scratching their heads and asking "Back Room Ritter" what the secrecy is all about: Earlier this year, Ritter remained silent after a Denver District Judge scolded officials from Ritter's Department of Public Health and the Attorney General's office for violating constitutional mandates regarding open meetings. The judge ruled that this government coalition had violated the Constitution by meeting in secret to set arbitrary limits on sick and dying patients seeking relief under the Colorado's voter-implemented medical marijuana program. And now Ritter is … [Read more...]
Harsanyi on Indoctrination into “Ritter’s Fantastical World”
On Monday I wrote about Gov. Ritter's plan to impose Greenhouse Global Warming hysteria on Colorado's public school classrooms. David Harsanyi's Denver Post column today explores the issue with more skilled and entertaining prose: Not long ago, Ritter assembled the P-20 Education Coordinating Council to foster a "seamless education system from pre-school to grad- school." Nowhere in the literature of the P-20 Education Coordinating Council - and I've looked far and wide - does it mention anything about the educational system being used to politically indoctrinate children. Yet, the Climate Action Plan says that "the state will work through the Governor's P-20 Education Council and others to make sustainability curricula become standard … [Read more...]
Chieftain: Ritter’s Order Unnecessary, Counterproductive, and Harmful
The Pueblo Chieftain joins other Colorado newspaper editorial voices in rejecting the arguments made for Gov. Ritter's executive order unionizing state employees:While he hopes his partnership arrangements will lead to new efficiencies, just the opposite could result. Unions are notorious for demanding - and receiving - work rules that often run counter to efficient operations. In addition to high medical insurance costs, old-line industries such as steel and autos had work rules that made them less competitive than those plants which operate without unions. The governor maintains that the restrictions on the state budget ensconced in TABOR would limit the amount the state could meet in future union pay demands. But there’s always the … [Read more...]
Schaffer Reports 3Q Fundraising
A little original reporting from one small corner of Colorado's right-of-center blogosphere: according to a well-placed source, the Bob Schaffer for U.S. Senate campaign is prepared to report 3rd quarter fundraising totals of $802,570. Combined with the $717,047 he raised during the 2nd quarter, Schaffer has compiled $1,519,617 since he began in earnest in May. The most recent numbers are solid, certainly not stellar - they reflect a slowing of the torrid pace he achieved during the first six weeks of active fundraising. Meanwhile, Schaffer's Democrat rival - Boulder liberal Rep. Mark Udall - has indicated that his campaign raised more than $1.1 million in the recent quarter. It seems like a fair assessment to make that the Schaffer … [Read more...]
Ritter’s Executive Order: Is it Collective Bargaining or Not?
It's been kind of funny to watch the Democratic Party coalition in Colorado dance around the term "collective bargaining" since last Friday afternoon's executive order from Gov. Bill Ritter. Here is a sample: Denver Post (11/4/07): "Mitch Ackerman, president of Service Employees International Union Local 105, called the partnership with Kaiser a '21st century model of collective bargaining,' a departure from the traditionally adversarial relationship between managers and workers." Colorado Federation of Public Employees Press Release (11/6/07): "Union Leader Says Partnership is Not Collective Bargaining" Bill Ritter, Rocky Mountain News Speakout (11/6/07): "Twenty-nine states provide collective-bargaining rights to their employees. … [Read more...]
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